Octogenarians

In Italia, I have two sets of grandparents. Now, as a person who generally pieties the elderly and likes to deny the inevitability of old age, it means a lot when I say they are possibly the most darling people I have ever met. A few Sundays ago, my family had the pleasure of hosting a lunch for this gaggle of octogenarians. Despite this being my third and second times meeting them, Roberta had to reintroduce me and explain that I am her American friend, who does not speak good Italian and doesn't really understand much. For the four, especially the two grandmothers, this concept was incredibly difficult to wrap their heads around, so they just went ahead and asked me questions in Italian. Luckily, I comprehended the first one and successfully answered that my name is Brittney. Since the "tttt neeee" is a sound never used in Italian, my name is hard for a lot of people to say, so I'm generally Brit, Bri, or Britty. So for about twenty minutes my host dad and Roberta enjoyed trying to teach the grandmothers how to say my name. All attempts at abbreviation and slow pronunciation ended unsuccessfully. I think to the grandmas my name is currently Bridgetta. Maybe I'll keep it for its Italian ring.